


The Same and Yet Different

by Nicowafer



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7008604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicowafer/pseuds/Nicowafer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zenyatta discusses a way humans are similar to robots.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Same and Yet Different

“I believe you have it harder than any Omnic. You have known what it is like to be truly and thoroughly accepted. Now, it is up to you who and what you will be.” The Omnic had been in a trance for some time now and was just coming out of it. Genji turned his head as his master spoke. Often Genji would turn to find his companion in a trance-like state. Sometimes it was impossible to tell if the Omnic was offline for maintenance or if he simply had put himself into such a state. “But we are not so different.” Zenyatta said, his dimmed preceptors brightening once more as if coming out of a trance. 

The cyborg gave a snort as he continued a routine he'd eked out for himself, sharpening the blade of his well-used sword. 

“Are we now? Perhaps because we are both metal?” Genji tried the joke, his perception array lighting up with his chuckle. 

Zenyatta would have smiled blithely, had he the ability, instead he nodded. “Partly. But I am speaking on a spiritual level.” Genji gave a sigh, a woosh of air through metal though he no longer truly had to breath. 

“Not more of this.” Genji was still struggling, he had fought it at first, and now he was settling into his new life. His body was no longer what he wished it to be, but it was strong and he could be of use. That was all that mattered. 

“I suppose I should rephrase. Humans and Omnic are not so different.” Genji could at least deal with this when the robot wanted to talk about humanity as a whole, and not just him and his problems. 

“How so, Zenyatta?” 

“Humans were created, is that not what your religion states? Created as beings with souls by a creator that has disappeared from your sight?” The Omnic turned his perception grid towards Genji, watching him as he responded. 

Genji gave a shrug. “Some do. Others do not.” It was as simple as that. But the former human could see where Zenyatta was going with all this. “But it's not the same, Zenyatta. You were created by humans, by technology. And your creators are still here.” Genji tested the sharpness of his weapon. 

“Ahh, yes, but one day, those humans will one day be a distant memory to us. To me. To my people. We last longer than humans. One day they will be gone and we will still be here. Who is to say this did not occur to humans?” Genji stopped his sharpening turning his own perception array towards the Omnic who sat, his hands folded in lotus position, his legs and feet never touching the ground. 

“I suppose I can not say one way or another if that is true.” Genji could just see Zenyatta telling religious leaders his theory, and imagined the chaos that would bring. 

“A robotic soul and a human soul are not so different. Each was placed there, whether by programming or some other skill.” Genji gave a short laugh. Zenyatta's array brightened at the laugh. 

“Is my soul then half robot, half human?' Genji questioned. 

“Your soul is what it is, Genji. Your soul is human. Your body robot. You are different from other living creatures, and yet the same. You will always be set apart from others, because of this.” The monk said, his preceptors dimming slightly. 

Genji gave his sword a final wipe down before replacing it in it's home. 

“And yet you never make me feel apart. You go out of your way to make me feel together.” The monk floated only an inch off the ground next to him and extended his robotic hand to the cyborg who tentatively placed his own in it. 

“Because you, Genji, are the one human on this planet who might yet understand the workings of a robotic heart and soul.”Zenyatta squeezed that given hand, hoping the tactile would convey his meaning more than his voice. To take the place of what a face full of emotion could. 

“I think I am learning, master, but I will need more time.” His hand in the others made him feel strange, something he hadn't felt in a long time. His stomach jumping excitedly, butterflies, he thought. 

“You have all the time you need, Genji. And it will not run out on you.”


End file.
